Dorking Football Club - Lee Matthews.

[Big J R]

Tony Webb has now commented, and as it is now in the public domain regarding Lee, who joined us recently from Corinthian Casuals.

 

http://www.thisissurreytoday.co.uk/sport/Dorking-draw-marred-injury-Lee-Matthews/article-1486347-detail/article.html

 

I promise I'll up-date you all on any further information as I get it.

 

Lee was due to undergo further surgery at East Surrey Hospital, Redhill last Tuesday.

[Terrence Collina]

That sounds really nasty, worse than what I did.

 

We wish him a speedy recovery.

[Teflon]

Was there and saw it not very nice !!!! wish him all the best

[Big J R]

I'm hoping to get permission to reproduce the whole article on the back page of this weeks Dorking Advertiser on here for those who can't get it.

 

It's not curently on line. For those that can get it, the accompanying photo shows the true extent of Lee's injury.

[Big J R]

My sincere thanks to Lee Wilmot, Sports Editor of the Dorking Advertiser to allow me to re-produce his recent article from the Dorking Advertiser in full.

 

"Dorking footballer Lee Matthews' career has been left in ruins after he broke his left ankle and shin in the game with Colliers Wood on Saturday 31st October.

 

The 22-year old, who was playing in only his third game for the club since joining from Corinthian Casuals, went down under an innocuous-looking challenge in the 35th minute.

 

It was clear that the injury was a bad one though as team-mates and both physios from both sides rushed to his aid.

 

It was thought the mid-fielder had dislocated his ankle, but when he arrived at hospital, it was revealed to be a lot worse than that.

 

Manage Tony Webb said : "It was one of those challenges you see in football all the time, there was a tussle and the bloke has caught him on the back of the leg. It was innocuous enough and he looked like he had dislocated his ankle. It was much worse than that though, he also broke his shin and his ankle, smashed the ball of his ankle. The gut feeling is that he will probably never play football again, which is really disappointing for the lad."

Matthews had an operation on the ankle on Tuesday 3rd November to assess the full extent of the damage.

 

Chairman Ray Collins said: "It was a really bad injury. Worse than anyone could have ever dreamed. When he got to hospital there was only one ligament holding his foot on. It is going to be a long rehabilitation for him, it's really sad. Not only will he not play football, but Matthews, who is a roofer by trade, faces a long time off work as well, and the club is hoping to organise a few events to raise some money for him. He won't be able to work for quite a while and the consensus is he won't be able to run for 18 months. It's unbelievable," said Webb. "We want to organise a couple of benefit matches, we are going to talk to Mick [sullivan] at Leatherhead to see if we can do the Advertiser Cup again and donate all the money to Lee. We would also like to get a league team here, we've got a few contacts, we played Portsmouth recently and we hope someone may be generous enough to help us. It's not going to be anywhere near what he would earn in his job, but we hope it will help him out."

 

I'll update on here as and when I know more. B.J.R.

[Big J R]

UPDATE:

 

Dorking FC have been in touch with Lee's family recently, after his bad accident playing for Dorking in the game with Colliers Wood on Saturday 31st October at Meadowbank.

 

The injury has proved to be as bad as we thought, although Lee is making some progress. His ankle is still severely swollen and he has had plates inserted and the treatment is going to be long and hard.

 

After the Christmas break, DFC will be looking to arrange some friendly games to raise money for Lee. It is hoped we will also be able to arrange a game with a 'professional' club.

[Jurg78]

Good to see the club looking to help him out in this manner.

 

Hats off to DFC.